Soul Food (1997) 

 

Release date: September 26, 1997

Director: George Tillman, Jr.

Writer(s): George Tillman, Jr.

Starring: Vanessa L. Williams, Nia Long, Vivica A. Fox, Irma P. Henson,

Brandon Hammond

Estimated budget: $7.5 million

U.S. Box office: $43.7 million

 

When Ahmad Simmons' (Brandon Hammond) diabetic grandmother, Josephine "Big Mama" Joseph (Irma P. Hall), falls into a coma during an operation to amputate her leg, it throws the Joseph family into chaos. Ahmad watches as his mother, Maxine (Vivica A. Fox), and aunts Teri (Vanessa L. Williams) and Tracy (Nia Long) struggle to adjust to the family matriarch's sudden absence, fall into old rivalries, share memories, and work to maintain the long-standing tradition of Sunday family dinners.